Symptoms of love
by fallen-forgotten-faith
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke are both down with something. There are 5 symptoms of love, and they seem to have all.


**This is the first time I'm attempting such a format. I love stories like these, especially those about Sasuke's ideal partner and how Naruto doesn't match the qualities. I hope this turns out okay. (: **

_Warning:_

_The symptoms of a crush vary from person to person._

_**1. Somehow, you're just a bit more sensitive to touch.**_

Groupwork.

Naruto had some sort of a love-hate relationship with it.

He loved it, because most of the time his group didn't do anything anyway. Shikamaru would automatically assume it was nap time, Kiba would doodle away, and Sasuke would…um…stone?

He hated it too, because sometimes it was Sasuke who ended up sitting next to him. See, for reasons unknown, Iruka-sensei had so intelligently arranged for Sasuke to sit beside Shikamaru and Kiba, next to Naruto. Never mind the fact that Kiba and Naruto were both _noisy. _And that Sasuke and Shikamaru were both _geniuses._ Apparently logical reasoning was on vacation the day Iruka-sensei did the class seating plan.

But anyway. Sometimes they switched seats during groupwork (mostly when Naruto and Kiba weren't exactly on speaking terms) , and today, well, Kiba had laughed at him during Math.

Naruto crossed his legs out of habit, and with slight surprise, realized his knee was making contact with something. He was vaguely aware that it wasn't the table leg, or anything else…but Sasuke's knee.

He blushed, unsure of whether to shift his leg a wee bit away, or to just leave it there, lest Sasuke think something was wrong. He sneaked a peek at the raven, and noticed that his mien was as expressionless as usual.

_Over-reacting, you, _he chided himself. _Bad brain._

He left his knee where it was.

_**2. You're happy just cos the person said "bye".**_

It was the last day of the term, the bell had just rang, and Sasuke was still busy fiddling with his books and pencil case. Hey, he was a perfectionist.

Naruto, however, was all packed up and ready to go. Cheerfully, he headed towards the door, but just before he disappeared, he called out :

"Bye Kiba!"

Which Sasuke heard, and _tried to ignore for some funny reason_, but seconds later there was another yell :

"Bye, teme!"

and Sasuke snapped out of his little temporary reverie.

He opened his mouth to shout back a response, but Naruto was gone.

And as he dropped the last pencil into his custom-made pencil case, he knew something was happening. His mouth was subconsciously, or maybe consciously, curving upwards and it wasn't a smirk, for sure.

He was smiling, for the first time in a long, long while.

_**3.You're upset cos you think the person doesn't like you.**_

"Dobe, go get those markers from Iruka-sensei."

"Why me?" moaned Naruto.

"Can you not whine and just go get the freaking markers?" snapped Sasuke.

Kiba nodded in agreement. "Be a good boy, Naruto. Go fetch."

"Look who's speaking," growled Naruto.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru let out a soft snore.

"Fine!" he huffed. "I'm being bullied here, I'm telling you." And he stormed off to get the markers.

Sasuke never talked to him unless it was to insult or scold him, geez.

And he _tried _sometimes to be nice to that undeserving bastard.

As he snatched the markers from Iruka-sensei's hands, too absorbed in his thoughts to care about basic courtesy, he wondered why he was getting so worked up over Sasuke's treatment of him.

Kiba did the same too, so why wasn't he wondering about him instead?

He slammed the markers on the table, jolting Shikamaru awake, and Sasuke smirked.

"Arigatou, dobe."

Kiba just picked a marker up and began doodling.

Maybe that was why.

_**4.You like it when that person smiles or grins. Especially at you.**_

"Anou, Sasuke…" 

It was math (ugh) and Naruto had turned back, pen and paper in hand, looking stumped.

"I just can't get partial fractions," he groaned. "Do you know how to do this?" And he poked at a question in frustration.

Sasuke wondered why he didn't ask Shikamaru, who, funnily enough, was awake then.

"Yeah," he muttered, and worked out the sum for Naruto on a piece of rough paper.

"Thanks man," he said, grabbing the sheet with scribbled workings. Then a second later, he turned around again, and flashed Sasuke a typical toothy grin.

_Dumbass,_ Sasuke thought.

But he didn't really mean it.

_**5.You don't think you're in love.**_

"Sakura-chan! Do you wanna-" 

"NO! Oh, Sasuke-kun! Do you wanna-"

"NO."

Sasuke watched as Sakura rejected Naruto, and Naruto watched as Sasuke rejected Sakura.

When the pink-haired girl had left, defeated and mopey, Naruto burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" demanded Sasuke.

"Her," Naruto replied, in between hysterical snorts. "She's still so pathetically in love with you."

Sasuke was confused. "Aren't you in love with Sakura?"

"No!" Naruto immediately stopped laughing, and hastily proceeded to explain. "I mean, I still think she's cute and stuff, but I don't really…_like _like her anymore."

"Hn," said Sasuke, as he pondered over what Naruto possibly meant.

"And you, I see, are still ever the asexual." Naruto teased, with a small smile.

"Maybe," Sasuke answered cryptically.

"What do you mean, maybe?" pried Naruto. As much as he hated to admit it, he kinda wanted to know who it was who had singlehandedly managed to help Sasuke graduate from asexual to heterosexual.

"I don't think it's love," Sasuke told him.

Naruto tapped on his chin.

"I get what you mean. I would die for you, I would kill for you, I want to be with you and I'm happy whenever I am, but…I don't love you."

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded. "Something like that."

"And I love it when you smile, or when you just look at me, and I get really angry whenever you don't and treat me all coldly, but I don't love you."

"Exactly," agreed Sasuke. "You sound as though you're speaking from experience."

"I am," stated Naruto matter-of-factly.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he felt a twinge of something. What was it?

"Just so you know," he blurted out suddenly, after a minute of silence, "I'm not in love."

"I know," Naruto said softly, "Neither am I."

And maybe one day… 

_We'll both realize that we're down with something incurable._

_Love._


End file.
